| In an article released on August 8, 2007 in | | | | That your ADD or ADHD symptoms aren't about |
| Scientific Daily, scientists argue that ADHD may | | | | you being a bad person. They're about you not |
| well be the result of reduced dopamine levels in | | | | having the proper chemicals in your brain. Though |
| the brain. Dopamine does many things in the brain, | | | | some ADD sufferers see a decrease in |
| and plays important roles in behavior and thinking, | | | | symptoms as they age, some do not and remain |
| attention, learning, motor activity, regulation of | | | | ADD their entire lives. It's just that some people |
| milk production, motivation and reward, sleep, and | | | | learn to moderate the symptoms better than |
| mood. This brain chemical is very important in the | | | | others. In many cases, natural methods of healing |
| ADHD symptoms of hyperactivity, attention, | | | | work best. For instance, because the ADD drugs |
| motor activity, and the tendency to substance | | | | are stimulant based, it helps me to drink espresso |
| abuse, and it's probably true that the same issue | | | | all day long. |
| extends to ADD, though all of the test subjects | | | | But there are other methods for coping with |
| had the hyperactivity component. | | | | ADD, such as creating systems to help you work |
| Scientists at the National Institute of Drug Abuse | | | | through projects, splitting time into segments that |
| studied a control group made up of 19 ADHD | | | | you can hyperfocus in, and practicing on clarity of |
| adults, who were not on medication, and 24 | | | | communication. Yet, for some of us, drugs may |
| healthy adults. They gave each subject PET | | | | need to be a way of life. One thing this study |
| (positron emission tomography) scans before and | | | | pointed out is that these decreased dopamine |
| after administering a drug, which binds with | | | | levels in our brains and limbic systems also give us |
| dopamine in the brain. What they found was that | | | | the issues with substance abuse. Before that |
| the ADHD subjects had much lower levels of | | | | happens, take a preliminary test to see if you |
| dopamine than their healthy counterparts. This | | | | may be suffering from attention deficit. If the |
| was also true in parts of the limbic system, which | | | | test results are positive, then see your physician |
| controls emotional responses and memory. | | | | to confirm that you have attention deficit. |
| What does this mean? | | | | |